Solved Scam or real?

My friend started her pc this morning and a beeping noise and a large alert window from Windows Defender came up. "For security reasons, your pc has been locked"!
We don't know if this is real but I was able to go to task manager and shut down Edge. Would Windows Defender behave in such a manner? WE have shut down her system as we check it out. thanks.

Tis a scam - checked google and it is --- thankfully -- only a scam. Thanks.

Well now I don't know. New system will not power on after I killed the scam alert. How do I power the system on?

I don't know what's going on. My next thought is to put my windows 11 install usb into her system and "repair option" - can I do that?

Patsy1011 said:

My next thought is to put my windows 11 install usb into her system and "repair option" - can I do that?

Click to expand...

You'd need to boot into Windows before your InstallUSB could then be used to run a "Repair install".
This cannot be done by booting from your InstallUSB.
And you will infect your InstallUSB by having it connected to this infected computer.
And Repair installs do not remove malware.

I cannot help you.
I do not know about recovering from malware attacks.
I posted just to warn you against connecting your InstallUSB.

I'm surprised that it fails to boot rather than booting into a screen that demands a ransom to decrypt all the user's files.


All the best of luck,
Denis

Your best option at the moment is to post a new thread to a forum which offers malware removal, BleepingComputer is one of the best known and trusted ones: Virus, Trojan, Spyware, and Malware Removal Help Forum

Thanks to all. Denis - the system is not powered so it should not infect my usb. Correct? I will go to bleepingcomputer. Thanks.

Do you have a system Back up Macrium Aomei ?

No. System is only 7 days old. Haven't gotten to that yet. What is Aomei?

Macrium and Aomei are software companies which offer, among other utilities, disk imaging software. From your posts, I'm certain you haven't imaged the disk. You really should in the future.

As safety measure, go to MS account link in this article and change her MS password. Change your Microsoft account password - Microsoft Support

Hold down shift key and power on machine. (Keep shift key held down until you see recovery screen) Reset the machine choosing "reset and remove everything" option.

Are there any lights on the side or front of the laptop?
Before you try anything else, I suggest you hold the power button down for at least ten seconds. I suspect the computer is actually 'on' with a blank screen.

Lenovos sometimes have a tiny hole where you can insert a paperclip or similar to boot into the BIOS settings. From here you could set it to boot from a USB stick or HDD.

What is the make and model of her computer?

Denis - the system is not powered so it should not infect my usb. Correct? please....

Patsy1011 said:

Denis - the system is not powered so it should not infect my usb. Correct? please....

Click to expand...

You need to clarify the question. Was the usb device connected prior to powering down? What is the usb device? Of no less importance, we don't know for sure that your system was / is infected. Did you follow the above advice and hold down the power button to insure the system is off, and then try to power up again?

If you see the warning again, please photograph it and post here.

Hi - the system with the problem is a brand new HP all in one.

We still need the precise model number.

We are working with an hp tech -- trying different things.-Denis - the system was dead when I put in the usb to clarify.

Sorry - 24-DF1046